TEAM COHESION AS IMPERATIVE FOR SCHOOL MANAGEMENT IN ENHANCING EFFECTIVE SERVICE DELIVERY IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

This paper looked at school management with a focus on team cohesion with a view to achieving effective service delivery in educational institutions. This was for the purpose of determining appropriate strategies for improving the quality of service delivery system in Nigerian educational system. The paper submits that team cohesion is very important to the success of any organization. People are referred to as a team because they have similar objectives and determined to pursue them together as a team to achieve the desired results. The paper also examined the ability of school administrators/teachers to organize classrooms and manage the behaviour of their students which is considered critical to achieving positive educational outcomes and build cohesion among the staff as well as the students. Problems within a team are unavoidable, hence, the paper as well focused on strategies for handling problems within the team before they escalate so as to ensure effective service delivery. There is no doubt that cohesive groups offer advantages in terms of social support for group members, they also present some risks, such as lack of cooperation among team members, lack of reward and recognition for individual contributions to accomplish team goals as well as selfish interests on the part of team members. The paper, therefore, recommended that all team members should embrace the spirit of togetherness for successful task accomplishments regardless of individual differences among members; and that classroom-management strategies should be executed effectively such that teachers minimize the behaviors that impede learning for both individual students and groups of students, while maximizing the behaviors that facilitate or enhance learning and promote team cohesion and effective service delivery.